C
cassio
New member
I only have enough money for one mic. Sm58 or SM57? I wan't to use it for micing guitar amplifer (distorted and clean) and most importantly for female vocal. Which one should I buy?
sonusman
Banned
One of each... 
Really, there is no suitable compromise here. The 57 delivers great sound for many types of instruments, and the 58 is more oriented towards vocals.
I hear a lot of people who say the mics sound about the same. I would blame this on not so accurate monitoring. They really do have quite different sounds when applied to the same instrument or voice.
On a instrument, the 58 tends to have a sort of mushy sound. Hard to get any detail.
On voice, the 57 sounds closed in and sort of harsh.
At this point though, you need to consider your priorities for a mic. Do you need better sounding vocals or instruments.
I would favor the 57 just because it is money well spent for recording. The 58 is never going to deliver very good sound for recording vocals compared to just about any condenser mic. So, even though for right now a 58 would probably work better on your vocals, and not so good on instruments, you would wind up not using it down the road for either once you added a 57 and some kind of decent vocal mic to your collection. So it really doesn't make sense to invest in something that will not benefit you in the long run.
The 57, while not being a good choice for vocals will do okay for that, but will really shine much better on guitar cabinets, snare drums, toms, percussion, and horns (if you don't mind a little muddier sound). It is a mic that you will use for these applications even though you will may eventually have several mics to choose from.
Ed
Really, there is no suitable compromise here. The 57 delivers great sound for many types of instruments, and the 58 is more oriented towards vocals.
I hear a lot of people who say the mics sound about the same. I would blame this on not so accurate monitoring. They really do have quite different sounds when applied to the same instrument or voice.
On a instrument, the 58 tends to have a sort of mushy sound. Hard to get any detail.
On voice, the 57 sounds closed in and sort of harsh.
At this point though, you need to consider your priorities for a mic. Do you need better sounding vocals or instruments.
I would favor the 57 just because it is money well spent for recording. The 58 is never going to deliver very good sound for recording vocals compared to just about any condenser mic. So, even though for right now a 58 would probably work better on your vocals, and not so good on instruments, you would wind up not using it down the road for either once you added a 57 and some kind of decent vocal mic to your collection. So it really doesn't make sense to invest in something that will not benefit you in the long run.
The 57, while not being a good choice for vocals will do okay for that, but will really shine much better on guitar cabinets, snare drums, toms, percussion, and horns (if you don't mind a little muddier sound). It is a mic that you will use for these applications even though you will may eventually have several mics to choose from.
Ed
S
skweeks
New member
well... shure dynamics are really common as well as sturdy, so maybe you could get them both used.. i know most people don't reccomend buying use mics, but these are dynamics (sturdier than condensors) and are powerhouses used without being screwed up for live work all the time
sonusman
Banned
Very good point skweeks. But if one is going to try out used mics, it is a good idea to have a comparable mic available to test against. I have heard many 57's and 58's that seem to work fine until they are compared to a better working one. If you are familiar with about how much preamp gain, and how the mic should generally sound, then a comparison would not be as critical. But if the mic is somewhat foreign to you, then new usually assures that it works correctly.
Ed
Ed
C
cassio
New member
thanks sonusman. I think I'll get the sm58. Vocals are more important right now. I'm just putting demos together at home but I plan to go to a studio when the time is right.